Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, more commonly known as Sting, has gone down in history as one of the greatest musicians of all time. His music, which has been described as a blend of rock, jazz, and pop, has won him worldwide fame and acclaim over the past five decades. But how well do you know the life and career of Sting?
Table of Contents:
1. Early Life
2. Musical Career
3. Awards and Accolades
4. Global Influence
5. Legacy
6. Sting Quotes
- Early Life
Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner was born on October 2, 1951, in Wallsend, County Durham, England. His father, Ernest Gange Sumner, was an engineer, and his mother, Audrey Cowell, both of whom worked in the local coal-mining industry. Sting has credited his mother’s influence in introducing him to music, as she would often take him to folk and traditional English music concerts. During his childhood, Sting regularly attended the local church choir and studied the piano, flute, recorder, and guitar.
Sting ultimately attended the independent school St. Cuthbert’s Grammar School in Newcastle Upon Tyne and graduated in 1973 with a teaching diploma. After graduation, he first worked as a teacher and later pursued a career in music.
- Musical Career
Sting began his professional music career in 1977 when he joined The Police and released his first-ever album, Outlandos d’Amour. The album was an immediate success and single-handedly turned Sting into an international pop sensation. Over the next two years, The Police released four more albums, which went platinum and sold millions of copies worldwide.
In 1985, Sting released his first solo album entitled Dream of the Blue Turtles, which featured a unique blend of jazz and rock. The album became one of the most successful of the decade and was followed by albums such as Nothing Like the Sun and Pieces of Me, as well as a highly successful Box Set. Throughout his career, Sting has produced some of the most iconic songs of the past few decades, including Every Breath You Take and Englishman in New York.
- Awards and Accolades
During his career, Sting has won 16 Grammy Awards, and two Brit Awards and received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He has also won three awards for Best British Male Solo Artist, two for Best British Album, and one for Best British Group, as well as eight prestigious Ivor Novello Awards. In 2003, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for contributions to music.
- Global Influence
Sting’s music has had a profound and long-lasting impact on popular culture around the world. His songs have been featured in countless movies and television shows, and he has collaborated with some of the most respected musicians in the world. In addition, Sting has performed and toured almost continuously since 1977, setting him apart from most other musicians.
Outside of music, Sting is well known as a passionate environmentalist and human rights advocate. He has performed countless benefit concerts in order to raise money and awareness for a variety of causes, including human rights, poverty, and the protection of endangered species.
- Legacy
Sting has gone down in history as a musical legend, and one of the most successful musicians of all time. His music has earned him widespread critical acclaim and made him one of the most influential musicians of our time. Sting also continues to be involved in charity work, as well as producing new music and performing live.
Sting has also seen success outside of the music industry. He has starred in several movies and acted in a variety of television shows, and his work with the Rainforest Foundation Fund has earned him a great deal of admiration and respect from fans and critics alike.
Sting has left an indelible mark on popular culture. To this day, he remains an inspiration to many young artists and a cultural icon for generations to come.
Sting Quotes
“I don’t understand American football at all. It looks like all-in wrestling with crash helmets.” – Sting
“The acceptance of death gives you more of a stake in life, in living life happily, as it should be lived. Living for the moment.” – Sting
“An uncle of mine emigrated to Canada and couldn’t take his guitar with him. When I found it in the attic, I’d found a friend for life.” – Sting
“Success always necessitates a degree of ruthlessness. Given the choice of friendship or success, I’d probably choose success.” – Sting
“When the world is running down, you make the best of what’s still around.” – Sting
“Like Yoga, the spiritual life is actually very difficult.” – Sting
“I was recruited to teach 9-year-olds. I taught for two years.” – Sting
“I was brought up as a Catholic and went to church every week and took the sacraments. It never really touched the core of my being.” – Sting
“I exist in a state of almost perpetual hysteria.” – Sting
“I don’t need to manufacture trauma in my life to be creative. I have a big enough reservoir of sadness or emotional trauma to last me.” – Sting
“I think there’s room for both private exploration and group work in Yoga.” – Sting
“I really wanted to work with David Lynch. I was a big fan of The Elephant Man and Eraserhead.” – Sting
“I’ve never lost perspective on who I am. Well, maybe briefly, but generally I’m pretty balanced.” – Sting
“I’m not speaking as someone who has reached satori or anything else. I’m a student.” – Sting
“I write the music, produce it and the band plays within the parameters that I set.” – Sting
“I have been through various fitness regimes. I used to run about five miles a day and I did aerobics for a while.” – Sting
“The more irrational of us are worried about the millennium ending – as if a date would really matter.” – Sting
“I think you can get the wrong impression about me from my work and think I’m always a bit down. I’m not that way at all. I’m fun-loving.” – Sting
“I have a big problem with piped music. I like either silence or to listen to it properly.” – Sting
“I hate most of what constitutes rock music, which is basically middle-aged crap.” – Sting
“I was famous overnight. I went from nowhere to being really big.” – Sting
“If you make your living writing, and you can’t write anything, it’s over. It’s very frightening.” – Sting
“There’s no religion but sex and music.” – Sting
“I see music as one language. If one musical form eats its own tail, it dies. So it needs to be a mongrel, it needs to be hybridized.” – Sting
“One of the rewards of success is freedom, the ability to do whatever you like.” – Sting
“I learned to change my accent; in England, your accent identifies you very strongly with a class, and I did not want to be held back.” – Sting
“I made two movies before The Police had a hit record: I did Quadrophenia and a film called Radio On.” – Sting
“Yoga is almost like music in a way; there’s no end to it.” – Sting
“My friends are Peter Gabriel, and Bruce Springsteen, and we’re singing about mortality, getting older. It’s an interesting time.” – Sting
“Peter Townshend shows us it’s all right to grow up. There is dignity after rock’n’roll.” – Sting
“The deeper you get into Yoga you realize it is a spiritual practice. It’s a journey I’m making. I’m heading that way.” – Sting
“It has very little to do with my work, but if your image is not sexy enough, people won’t listen. It’s part of the game.” – Sting
“I do my best work when I am in pain and turmoil.” – Sting
“I miss England. I miss the weather. I’ve spent most of the last 25 years on tour. I’m ready to come home.” – Sting
“I can’t fly a flag for monogamy or whatever the opposite is; it depends on the person and on the situation.” – Sting
“It’s never easy to write a song. It’s the most difficult thing I do.” – Sting
“Yoga introduced me to a style of meditation. The only meditation I would have done before would be in the writing of songs.” – Sting
“I’m very much afraid of being mad – that’s my one fear.” – Sting
“I try to give the media as many confusing images as I can to retain my freedom. What’s real is for my children and the people I live with.” – Sting
“I want to get old gracefully. I want to have good posture, I want to be healthy and be an example to my children.” – Sting
“Love is stronger than justice.” – Sting
“I always stayed fit because I’m a performer, and all of those things help me to perform.” – Sting
“I’ve spent a bit of time with the Prince of Wales, who I respect greatly. I’d give two cheers for the Monarchy.” – Sting
“I can’t really change my life to accommodate people who are jealous. I don’t see why I should.” – Sting
“That sense of failure, I don’t know where people put it who don’t write songs and aren’t able to emote physically. It must go somewhere.” – Sting
“I feel this music has nurtured me as I’ve been immersing myself in it. I’ve felt supported by it.” – Sting
“I’m not much of a family man. I’m just not that into it. I love kids, I adore them, but I don’t want to live my life for them.” – Sting
“I come from a family of losers, and I’ve rejected my family as something I don’t want to be like.” – Sting
“I think love has something to do with allowing a person you claim to love to enter a larger arena than the one you create for them.” – Sting
“I see songs, not as a commodity used up when the album goes off the charts, which is often the case with pop songs. I see them as a body of work. Life should be breathed into them.” – Sting
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